Yesterday our tour with Cappella Amsterdam kicked off in Utrecht. Almost all venues are sold out and audiences and press are enthusiastic. Concertmaster Alexander Janiczek "likes to serve Mozart's most dramatic moments with a generous spoonful of gravy, but he keeps the overall sound transparent throughout." (NRC) The first movement, before intermission, will be played without a conductor under the direction of concertmaster Alexander Janiczek. Mozart's 40th symphony without a conductor, as was often done in Mozart's own time. And fitting during the tenth anniversary of the death of our founder Frans Brüggen, who performed this work many times with the orchestra.

After intermission, we combined our musical forces with Cappella Amsterdam conducted by Daniel Reuss. "Conductor Daniel Reuss can read and write with those singers and the musicians, and that pays off in concentrated relaxation." (NRC) And the finale, the Ava Verum Corpus, turns out to be a "perfect finale: shimmering with warmth and intensity, but compassionate rather than devout." (NRC)